Cosmote Group takes hold of Zapp shares

The full Telemobil (Zapp) shares' package, held by Saudi Oger, was transferred to Cosmote group, the mobile telephony operator announced on Monday, November 2. The 200 million euros acquisition was approved last week by the Romanian Competition Council. Cosmote will now be able to offer mobile broadband services, thanks to the 3G license held by Zapp.

The Zapp acquisition gives Cosmote Romania the opportunity to extend its data services portfolio and mobile broadband while Zapp clients will have access to a larger palette of products and services and to the most relevant offers on the market from a quality-price perspective, Cosmote Romania executive Stefanos Theocharopoulos said.

According to Cosmote officials, the Zapp acquisition will increase the operator's development perspectives in Romania, "offering the company the chance to meet its clients new mobile services using broadband, using the 3G license obtained by buying Zapp, to extend the client database and to open new opportunities in the corporate segment, which enjoys an increased market potential".

Cosmote presently has 6.3 million users and a 23% market share (as of June 2009). Last Tuesday, The Romanian Competition Council announced the authorisation of Cosmote taking over Zapp, considering that this will not lead to a dominant mobile telephony market position in Romania.